Happy birthday, Abbie! :)

My cute little flower girl is 5!

I love you, Ab!

Happy 4th Birthday, Abbie! :)

Four years ago today I fell in love with this little beauty...  I didn't know just how much I would love her and everything about her!

From that tiny person to this precious bundle of energy... wow!  Time surely flies! She's now entering preschool, swimming like a fish, and she's a super big cousin! :)  

Happy birthday, Abbie!

We love you!

Aunt Johnnie, Uncle Eric, and Addie

The Big Cousin :)

Not too many people were more excited about the birth of Addie than her big cousin, Abbie!  She has been excited since we told her Addie was coming... she has asked me questions about Addie, told me things that she wants to do with Addie, and even told me she would be the boss of Addie. :) ha! 

Of all of the sweet moments I've had with my niece, one of my all-time favorite moments with Abbie went something like this (we had this conversation about a week before Addie arrived):

Ab:  So, Baby Addie is still in your belly, Aunt Johnnie?

J: She is.  She's still growing and getting strong.

Ab: How is she going to come out of there?

J (Hmm...): Well, how do you think she'll get out of there?

Ab: Does she just come out of your mouth?

J (holding back tears/laughter): Well, not exactly.

Ab: Well, what happens?  Do the doctors get her out of there?

J: Yes!  I go to the hospital, and the doctors work to take her out of my belly.

Ab: Like out of a big hole?  Do they fix the hole back up?

J: They do.

:) One of the best moments ever.

 

Here is the Big Cousin on the day after Addie was born.  Love her. :)  I can't wait until the day she gets to meet Addie for the first time!

Sweet Stories

I had to make myself type this tonight before I forget... these are moments I don't want to forget, and ones that I want to share with Addie one day...

The day we found out we were having a girl, Abbie called to find out what we were having. Here is how our conversation went:

Ab: Aunt Johnnie, what's your baby?
J: It's a girl!
Ab: Oh! I LOVE girls!!
J: Me too! You can have so much fun playing dress up with her one day!
Ab: Yeah, we can! But she can't wear my clothes.
J: Oh, okay.
Ab: My clothes would be too big for her. We will have to get her some tiny clothes.
J: Good idea! She would love that!
Ab: You know what? If she cries, I could get her her paci.
J: That would be great! That would make her feel better!
Ab: It would. And you know what else? I could tickle her, and she would just laugh and laugh! That would be funny.
J (holding back my laughter and hormonal tears of joy): I bet she would love for you to tickle her and make her laugh!
Ab: Okay, I'm done talking. Bye bye!

The next morning, my mom called to talk to her on her way to school. It's usually a good time to chat with her since there aren't too many distractions. :) I don't know the exact story, but Trae (my brother) told my mom that Ab had been talking about the baby and this is one conversation he and Abbie had:

Ab: Daddy, you know the baby is going to be teeny-tiny.
Trae: Oh really?
Ab: Yeah, but not teeny-tiny like a bird. Not that teeny-tiny.
Trae: Oh, okay.

I love that she explained it to Trae... making it much easier for him to understand. :)

One more: when we were leaving church the Sunday after Christmas, we were on our way back to my Mom and Dad's house. Amber, Abbie, and I went to get the car, and Ab began asking when we were going to get our stockings at my Mom's house. Amber explained that we would have to ask Nonna (my mom).

Amber: Nonna is in charge of the stockings. We can ask her.
Ab: So she's the boss of the stockings?
Amber: She is.
Ab: Like you and Daddy are the boss of me? And Aunt Johnnie and Uncle Eric are the boss of me... sometimes?
Amber: Right.
...after a little thinking, Ab: Well, I'm gonna be the boss of baby Addie.

We shall see how that one goes. :)

That's all for now. Like I said, I just wanted to have these in my blog so I can show Addie how much her cousin thought of her and loved her before she was born. Abbie talked to Addie a few times when we were home for Christmas... each moment melted my hormonal heart. :) She was so excited that Addie could hear her voice!

Ah... I can't wait to see them grow up together! What a blessing!

Trip to Rocky Top

Here we are at the UT/Memphis game. We had such a great time! It was Abbie's first game, and she loved it! She was so excited! The Vols scored a gazillion touchdowns during the time we were there, so Ab got to see lots of fireworks! :)

Sweet cheerleader :)

During the game... pure excitement. :)

Cute family pic!

Eric, me, and Baby J (almost 5 months preggers) :) Ask me how much walking I did. Seriously. Knoxville is freakin' hilly.

One more picture for the road... we played dress-up on Sunday. Isn't this Snow White precious? :)

Just because I love her...

Abbie, the big cousin!

It's true! Sweet Abbie is going have a little cousin! Eric and I are excited to announce that we are expecting our first child in April. :) We are amazed at the miracle that God is performing even as I type... it is just awesome that such an incredible thing is going on while we go about our daily lives!

To say the least, we are looking forward to meeting our little one! As you can see, Ab is pretty excited to be the "Big Cousin," too! She has already told me that it is going to be a girl. :) We shall see if she is correct in a few months. :)

Your prayers for us and little Baby Jackson are truly appreciated!

I will keep you posted as Baby (and Mommy) grow! :)

Stolen

This is the first picture I "stole" from my brother's site. He and Ab had a "Dad's Weekend" and he took some great pictures! She is starting to look so grown up in these pics! :)


This just might be my favorite! She is playing hide and seek. :) She's hiding from Trae. :) Love it.


They went to the petting zoo, too. Any place with animals is a favorite of Abbie's! She can name animals for days! Here, she is telling her Daddy that, "Their tongues are sticky." I love the look on her face! :)


Animal crackers at the petting zoo. Yes, sir.


Sweet girl. This is my new background on my computer! If you don't have a super cute niece like I do, just let me know. I'll be happy to introduce you to Abbie! :)
She will make your world a brighter place, for sure!

Ab's Program

We had the best time visiting Trae, Amber, and Abbie in Knoxville a few weeks ago. Mama came up to see Abbie's program, and we decided to go, too! It was precious... here are a few pictures from the night:

The set designers get an A+! The barn was so cute...

...and the pig was precious!

...and the cow was, too!

Here's Abbie looking around when she first came to the stage.

Here she is when she found us on the front row! Priceless! :)

The two-year-old class

Ab, shaking her eggs!

Quite possibly my favorite picture... the entire school came out for the finale. I don't think they had practiced together yet, and Abbie was quite interested in watching the other kids sing, too! Her teacher kept trying to turn her back around, but Ab still wanted to watch. You'll be happy to know, though, that she never stopped singing! :) She didn't miss a beat!

Taking it all in...

Finally, time to take a bow! Ab and her friend were totally ready! :)

Cutest Cheerleader!

I'm obviously in the posting mood tonight... I have finally gotten around to downloading my pictures, so now I can update this thing!

Abbie spent her spring break in MS with Nonna and Papa. They went to a "pepper rally" at my old high school and Mama got these pictures... I must warn you: they are precious! :)

Seriously, people.

Love it! :)

She made a friend... and apparently, they had a blast! I love the looks on their faces! Pure joy!

Go Indians! Girl's got some height! :)

Our Little Fish

This past weekend in Birmingham, Ab got to enjoy the indoor pool in our hotel. She was SO excited to swim! She even said, "I'm excited!" in the elevator on the way to the pool... she was too cute! :) Here are a few pictures I got of her:

Here she is getting used to the water... she was not camera shy at all! I love this expression on her face! :)

Piggy back ride with Daddy :)

While she was out of the pool getting her noodle, she noticed a little pool... a.k.a. the hot tub. :)

Turns out that she's a huge fan! :)

Naturally, she had to get the noodles for the "hot pool."

They worked quite well there, too! :)

Then it was back to the big pool!

...talking with Daddy...

They had a great afternoon in the pool! :)

What a difference a couple of years can make...

What can I say? I miss this little girl! Thankfully, we have family weekend in two weeks! :)
One more pic from Miss Personality for the road! :)

Sweet Christmas Memory

Of all the pictures that were taken at my parents' house this past Christmas, this one is my favorite. :) That is my grandpa, Daddy Bob (who will turn 80 on March 2), and his great-granddaughter, Abbie (who is almost 2 1/2 in this picture), sharing a moment that I'm sure Daddy Bob will remember. I know I will!

Abbie came into the world at the perfect time... God's plans always turn out that way, right? :) My Mimi (my grandma) passed away in May of 2005, I moved to Tennessee that June, my great-grandfather (Gran-Gran) passed away in July, Hurricane Katrina ravaged our hometown in August, Trae and Amber moved to Tennessee in September (or Oct...?)... and then we found out Abbie was on her way into the world that December!! :) Her place in this world made life a lot easier for all of us at a time when we were going through more changes than we could imagine.

...and although we wish Mimi could be here to see and to love Abbie, I really think Daddy Bob makes a point to love her for the both of them! :)

Where's Waldo?

Can you find the newest first grader? :)